Alpha's Private Plaything (Elsa and Drake Stone) novel Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Elsa

Drake covered her hand with his own. “You don’t need to take any responsibility, Vera. This is entirely Elsa’s fault.”

The way he dismissed me so casually, believed her lies so easily-it all crystallized into something hard and cold inside me. I felt a strange calm descend, the kind that comes only when you have nothing left to lose.

Fuck you, Drake. All your promises and vows to me over the years, all bullshit.

“I have proof that you’re lying, Vera,” I said, the words delivered with deadly precision.

All eyes snapped to me. Vera’s expression flickered for an instant before she composed herself.

“What did you say?” Drake’s voice was dangerously quiet.

I met his gaze without flinching. “I said I have proof that Vera is lying. And when I prove it, I want her on her knees apologizing before

she packs her shit and gets out of the company-taking full responsibility for this disaster.”

This manipulative bitch is going to pay for what she’s done.

Vera let out a high, brittle laugh. “Proof? What proof? The security systems were disabled!”

Drake’s mouth curved into a sneer. “Do you even hear yourself, Elsa? Do you understand what you’re accusing her of?”

I certainly do, you blind bastard. My wolf growled. I’m accusing your perfect little princess of being a lying manipulator.

Vera’s eyes glittered with triumph, though I noticed her hands gripping Drake’s arm tightly. “I swear by the Moon Goddess, every word I spoke was true.” She placed her right hand over her heart in the traditional pack gesture. “I have no reason to lie about this.”

No reason except to get me out of the picture completely, I thought bitterly.

I could see the confidence in her eyes, the absolute certainty that Drake would stand with her against me. Why wouldn’t he? He’d made

his choice clear enough.

“Give me twenty minutes,” I said, turning toward the door. “That’s all I need to find the truth.”

Drake scoffed, his arm wrapped around Vera’s shoulders. “Don’t waste your time. I’m taking Vera for a more thorough examination.”

I ignored him, limping painfully toward the door. Each step sent shards of agony up my leg, but I welcomed the pain. It kept my mind

clear, focused on what I needed to do,

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You two bastards just wait and see. I’m going to expose the truth.

Behind me, I heard Vera’s confident murmur to Drake: “She’s desperate. Let her go.”

You have no idea how desperate I am, I thought coldly. But not desperate enough to let you win.

Twenty minutes later, I limped back into the infirmary, my face pale with pain but my eyes burning with purpose. Drake and Vera were

still there, along with Harold and several technicians from the mine. I noticed that one of our IT specialists from the tech department had also arrived, which gave me a cold satisfaction.

Perfect timing to expose this little bitch’s lies.

When I entered, Vera’s eyes locked onto me, her fingers visibly tightening. She maintained her position close to Drake, but I could see the

tension in her shoulders, the slight tightening around her mouth.

Look how scared she is, I sneered internally, she knows she’s fucked.

“You’re wasting everyone’s time,” Drake began to say, but I cut him off by placing a tablet on the small table next to Vera’s chair.

“I recovered the deleted security footage,” I announced, my voice carrying clearly through the suddenly quiet room.

The tech specialist’s jaw dropped. “That’s impossible! The entire system was compromised. Even our security team couldn’t recover that

data.”

Vera’s face went pale, though she quickly tried to compose herself. She stood up, moving slightly away from Drake as if preparing for what

was about to be revealed.

“You-you must have tampered with the footage,” she stammered, taking another step back. “This is ridiculous!”

Yeah, yeah, keep denying it, little liar, I thought, feeling a rush of vindication surge through my veins.

I turned to the assembled group, my voice remaining professional despite the fire burning inside me. “Before joining Stone Industries, I worked in cybersecurity. The footage deletion was amateur-they disabled the main system but forgot that the backup server mirrors all

security camera content.”

I tapped the screen and the video began to play. The footage showed the silver ore display area about thirty minutes before our tour began. The timestamp was clearly visible in the corner.

There was Vera, looking furtively around before approaching the control panel. The video clearly showed her pressing the black button, then taking out what looked like a small electronic device and attaching it to the security camera mount.

Complete silence filled the room as the footage continued, showing Vera checking her watch and making a call on her phone before

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quickly leaving the area.

I paused the video, facing Vera directly. The joy of victory was almost worth the excruciating pain in my ankle.

Got you, you conniving bitch.

*You said you saw me press that button with your own eyes, Vera,” I said, my voice cold. “So, please explain to everyone how you plan to explain this little video? It clearly shows you pressing the emergency release and tampering with the security system.”

Vera’s face twisted with anger and fear. “This is obviously-obviously fabricated! She’s trying to frame me!”

I turned to the tech specialist. “Please verify the authenticity of this footage.”

The specialist examined the metadata and nodded. “The timestamps and digital signature match our security system. This hasn’t been

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